We end the first week in September by going to the Northwest to look at one of the top programs in that region, look at Notre Dame’s latest pick-up plus another pair of commits to a Big Ten school and profile a player who’s staying close to home to play.

 

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TEAM SPOTLIGHT: WASHINGTON LADYHAWKS 

The Washington Ladyhawks, coached by Wayne Miller and based in Puyallup, Wash., are always competitive—this summer alone, the team comprised of girls from Washington, Oregon and Idaho won the 150-team Valley Invite in Oregon—its second title in a row—and also finished 9^th at Triple Crown Sports Nationals and 13^th at the PGF Nationals

But those accomplishments aren’t what Coach Miller says was the top achievement for his team.

“Where we started and where we finished was a big upside,” he explains, “because we had a lot of kids not accustomed to that level of softball and they really grew as athletes.

“The biggest accomplishment was the higher level of play they achieved at the end of the year compared to how they started.”

One reason for the Ladyhawks success was the dedication to improvement, not just by the players but also by the coaches.  Thanks to modern technology, each player videotaped themselves and sent the clips to Miller.

“Each player had a goal to compete at that top level and every night they’d hit on their own and send me video of the their hitting and what we call  ‘dailies,’ which is basically glove work on their forehands, backhands, fly balls to your left and right.  I’d view it and evaluate and get back to them and let them know what to work on.  It’d take us about two hours a day to do as coaches.”

The dedication was also evident in that players would drive eight to nine hours for practice and not miss a weekend.

“The difference between a Washington kids versus a California kids is we have to practice a lot because they have so much game time experience so we have to practice a lot to compete at that high level.”

 

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Here’s the newly released roster for the 2013-14 Washington Ladyhawk team with comments by Coach Miller:

— SS/2B Maddie Morgan (2017, uncommitted)
“Maddie is an outstanding left-handed hitter with a phenomenal glove.”

— 3B/2B Kaylee Ree (2015, uncommitted)
“Kaylee has a quick release, she’s fearless and is an outstanding athlete.”

— P Bradie Fillmore (2016, Cal-Berkeley)
“Bradie’s a powerful hitter with a winning attitude and spins the ball and locates extremely well.  She knows how to take her pitch to another level against certain hitters.”

— OF Morgan Figueroa (2014, Fordham)
“Morgan has speed with great bat control.  She wants to get a higher education and Fordham puts her in that realm.”

— OF Trysten Melhart (2014, Washington)
“Trysten has outstanding speed and is a great all-around hitter. She is an outstanding young lady who all her teammates enjoy being around.”

— SS Taurie Pogue (2014, Cal-Berkeley)
“Taurie is another power hitter, has great knowledge of the game and is a great teammate. She’s always positive and uplifts everybody, always trying to find the bright side of things.”

— 2B/OF Jordy Storm (2015, uncommitted)
“Jordy’s a power slapper with good footwork who’s a hard worker and has a good glove.”

— 1B Ashlyn Lyons (2014, uncommitted)
“Ashlyn’s a line drive hitter with a great glove and excellent arm.”

— P Harli Hubbard (2014, North Carolina State)
“Harli’s a power pitcher who is a blow by pitcher, she just rares back and comes after you.”

— 3B/2B Gina Bond (2014, Oregon State)
“Gina is one of our top home run hitters, she has a phenomenal glove and gets 25-30 feet from the hitter and has no fear.  As a hitter she’ll make you pay if you miss as a pitcher.”

— OF Celine Fowler (2014, uncommitted)
“Celine is a speed kid, a complete triple threat who gets a good jump on the ball and has a great arm.”

— P Katie Donovan (2014, Utah)
“Katie is our go-to kid as a pitcher.  She has every aspect of the game, she’s just dominating and controlling in the game environment.”

— C/3B Rylee Whispel (2014, uncommitted)
“Rylee is a clutch hitter with power and as a catcher she’s knowlegable of what pitches to call and has a strong arm.”

— OF Tatyana (Taty) Forbes (2015, uncommitted)
“Taty is a complete power slapper with good speed.  Defensively, she has a phenomal arm and gets good jumps on the ball.”

— OF/SS Kaija Gibson (2016, Washington)
“Kaija is a complete triple threat at the plate, she was one of the top home run hitters at PGF Premier 16U level. She can bunt, slap, hit away defending on what the defense does.”

— 3B/UT Regan Rudisill (2014, uncommitted)
“Regan has a strong arm and catches for us as well.  As a hitter she’s a home run threat.”

— 1B/OF Madeline Henry (2016, uncommitted)
“Madeline’s a line-drive hitter with a good glove and an extremely strong arm at first base. I know she had some of the top numbers at the OnDeck camp last year.”

 

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VERBAL NEWS:

*** Pity the teams who have to play Crown Point (Ind.) High this year… you know they’re never going to get a break facing a weak pitcher.

The team has Miranda Elish, who has committed to Oregon and plays for the Beverly Bandits.  She helped the 16U team win the PGF National Championship and this year will play for Bill Conroy’s Premier team.

The Hoosier State school also has a 2017 P/UT player named Alexis Holloway—she plays for the Bandits 16U team—and just last weekend committed to Notre Dame.

Here’s an article talking about her verbal.

We spoke to Bandit’s leader Bill Conroy today about Holloway and he had some interesting things to say:

“The think I think about with Alexis is the first time I met her.  She came to my house with her parents, she was in the seventh grade, and said her dream school was Notre Dame. She doesn’t pass the eyeball test, at 5-foot-3 she’s a smaller kid for a pitcher and you have to watch to appreciate how good she is, but once you do she’s amazing.”

“Alexis has a great changeup, great presence in the circle and knows how to spin the ball as well as anyone I know.  Notre Dame has followed her through camps and got to see her play up this summer and loved her how well she played.  They knew she was the real deal.”

“She’s the Greg Maddux of the Beverly Bandits.”

*** Speaking of the Bandits, another Bandit player we came across who’s committed is OF Lea Foerster (2014, Michigan State).  Lea players for the Beverly Bandits – Team Premier team and is a centerfielder who bats right, but throws left.

She attends Portage Central High (Portage, Michigan) and we asked Coach Conroy about her as well… here’s what he had to say:

“Lea is a five tool player, she can hit for power and for average.  She is an excellent defensive player who has speed and great base running ability.  Lea has a knack for being able to do a delay steal; she does things you just can’t give signals for.  A very savvy, talented player, when she’s focused she can play with anyone, anywhere.”

*** And speaking of Michigan State, another Spartan commit to add to the program’s impressive recruiting list is 2014 OF Sydney Heath who plays for the Michigan Batbusters.

She’s the leadoff hitter at Troy (Mich.) High and has speed and power.

*** And finally, thanks to the e-mail from Rick Miller alerting us that Julia Miller has made her verbal to the University of Toledo.

She is a 2015 catcher and her travel team is the Cincy Doom Elite.

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Let us know who we’re missing, who, perhaps, has changed teams and who has a good story to tell!  Brentt — brentt@studentsports.com

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RECRUIT PROFILE: ALICIA BROWN

Here’s a closer look at SoCal standout Alicia Brown who had a lot of major college interest and decided to stay close to home and play for Loyola Marymount University.

Club team: American Pastime 18u – Garcia
High School: Glendora (Calif.)
Grad Year: 2014
Pos: 3B/1B/OF

What was the deciding factors in committing to LMU?
I was looking for a good academic school with a good softball program.  I was lucky enough to have a few really good academic schools that were interested in me throughout the country, but my final decision boiled down to taking the best local offer (so my parents could come to see me play).

With LMU, I got all three of my most important factors met: great academic school, good softball program, and at a location near home. In the process, I passed on some GREAT schools and I am very grateful for the confidence those coaches had in me.  All things considered, LMU was the best choice for me.

Why commit now?
 I actually got a late start in the recruiting process for softball.  I had surgery a year ago, so that slowed everything down.  I am 100% now and I was really hoping that I could lock in my college choice this summer.  It all came together at the right time.  Just glad it all worked out.

I went on an informal visit to the school this summer.  Coach made me an offer with my parents seating there watching.  I was scared and excited at the same time.  It is hard to believe its happening when you’re in it – its like watching your own life on TV – CRAZY!

Where was the offer made? 
Coach made the offer in his office and then he took me over to the assistance coach’s office to make the announcement to her.

What is it the LMU coaches said they liked about your game?
The coaches like my hitting.  I think they like me primarily as a hitter right now.  I hope I can prove that I can play a little defense too.

What does this mean to you and your family?
This whole thing is amazing for me and my family.  College is very expensive, it is such a relief for all of us not to have to worry so much about the finances.

What have been some of the highlights of your young softball career?
Making the high school All Baseline League 2nd team as a freshman.  Playing on the ASA National Champion Power Surge team in 2009 (best team in the country for 12U) and then finishing with an ASA 4th place trophy the following year with So Cal Jynx (first year 14u – 4th best team in the Country).

 

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BRENTT EDITORIAL ON SOFTBALL & THE OLYMPICS

Finally, good luck to the sport of softball getting back in the Olympics… if it doesn’t happen this weekend—there’s a good change it’ll be wrestling—then it will come sooner or later because of one reason.

Softball players are too good of athletes, too dedicated to their craft, too passionate and hard-working and too great of people to keep out of the Olympics for very long.

Let me put it this way… you won’t find any other athlete flying 2,000 miles a weekend to practice or driving eight to nine hours each freakin’ way to be with her team.

Shoot, football players, for example, won’t drive 15 minutes to practice without complaining… that I know for a fact.

If the IOC is too political or too short-sighted to have softball included, it’s their loss and stupidity in not knowing what true and pure athleticism is all about. You have to search long and hard to find another team sport where this is displayed as strongly as it is in softball.

But, I think softball will make it in, if not this vote, then soon. Why? Because it deserves to be a worldwide sport on an international stage.

A country like Japan will get the Olympics and bring it in if it gets the Games… or simply, the sport will continue to grow and win over fans, even if it has to be one game, one fan, one pitch or one at-bat at a time.

Because politics won’t win out here forever… the example of the girls and women who play and sacrifice and excel will win over the world.

Be it tomorrow or in time… it will happen.

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If you’d like to submit information, forward to brentt@studentsports.com.  Also, follow us on twitter at @SS_Softball.